John grew up in Crowley, La., in the heart of Acadia Parish, home to Breaux and another high-profile Louisiana politician, Edwin Edwards, who was elected four times as governor. After graduating from Louisiana State University, John went to work for his family's trucking business.

He served in the Louisiana House for eight years in the seat his father once held. In 1996, the 7th District seat to the U.S. House opened when Jimmy Hayes, a 10-year incumbent who had switched to the Republican Party, ran unsuccessfully for the Senate, according to National Journal's Almanac of American Politics.

The 7th Congressional District covers much of Cajun country, from Lafayette and the Atchafalaya west along Interstate 10 to Lake Charles and the Texas border. About one-fifth of the population there claims either French or French Canadian ancestry.

John ran against seven other Democrats in the state's open primary, and won the seat by 6 percent of the vote. He ran unchallenged by Republicans in his reelection bids.

The congressman is one of the more conservative Democrats in the House. He is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and a member of the conservative and moderate Democratic group the Blue Dogs.

He has worked to encourage farm exports, help rice farmers (his family owns two rice farms), protect estuaries, fishlands and marshlands, promote a high-tech industry in Louisiana and weaken gun control proposals, according to the Almanac. John at first opposed President Bush's income tax cut but ended up voting for the final agreement, calling it a good compromise on tax and spending.

John is married to Payton Smith of Leesville, La. They have twin sons Hays and Harrison.